Jakarta, hitclubapk3 Indonesia
—
Disaster expert and Lecturer at the Postgraduate School of Airlangga University (
Unair
) Surabaya, Hijrah Saputra assessed that the floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra were worthy of being designated as
national disaster
.
According to him, the increasing number of fatalities and losses as well as the large coverage of the affected area are the reasons why the government must take this step.
He explained that the legal basis for determining a national disaster was regulated in Law Number 24 of 2007 concerning Disaster Management.
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Article 7 paragraph (2) of the Law states five main indicators: number of victims, property losses, damage to infrastructure and facilities, coverage of affected areas, and socio-economic impacts.
“The number of victims is increasing. Then in terms of losses it will definitely increase. We can say that this is worthy of national disaster status,” said Hijrah when contacted, Wednesday (3/12).
He also touched on the pressure from a number of parties regarding the determination of national disaster status.
According to him, this indicates that the disaster is indeed a cause for concern.
Furthermore, Hijrah believes that this status is needed not only because of emergency situations, but as an instrument for dealing with long-term problems in disaster-affected areas.
He said the cause of floods and landslides in Sumatra could not just be attributed to extreme weather.
“If possible, the government can see what the problems are like upstream. How can it deal with illegal logging. We see piles of wood, we can’t close our eyes to that condition. In my opinion, it’s not just a weather problem,” he said.
Floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra caused 770 deaths and 463 victims were missing during the search.
Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (PMK), Pratikno previously said that although it had not been declared a national disaster, disaster management had been carried out nationally.
He explained that all ministries/institutions had been ordered by President Prabowo to mobilize maximum resources.
“All ministries/institutions were ordered by the President, including the TNI-Polri, BNPB and all components to mobilize their resources as fully as possible to deal with the disaster in Sumatra. So once again the handling is really full force handling nationally,” said Pratikno at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Wednesday (3/12).
National disaster status procedures
Article 1 Number 19 of Law Number 24 of 2007 concerning Disaster Management states that disaster emergency status is a situation determined by the Government for a certain period of time based on the recommendation of the Agency tasked with managing disasters.
One of the government’s authorities is determining the status and level of national and regional disasters (Article 7 paragraph 1 letter c).
Determination of the status and level of national and regional disasters as intended in paragraph (1) letter c contains indicators which include:
a.number of victims;
b.property loss;
c.damage to infrastructure and facilities;
d.wide coverage of areas affected by disasters;and
e.the socio-economic impacts caused.
Further provisions regarding the determination of disaster status and level as intended in paragraph (2) are regulated by Presidential Regulation.
The government determines disaster emergency status according to the scale of the disaster (Article 51).
Determination on a national scale is made by the president, on a provincial scale by the governor, and on a district/city scale by the regent/mayor.
In the event that a disaster emergency status is determined, BNPB and BPBD have easy access which includes the mobilization of human resources;equipment deployment;logistics deployment;immigration, excise and quarantine;licensing;and procurement of goods/services.
Then management and accountability for money and/or goods;rescue;and command to command sectors/agencies.
BNPB has also issued Guidelines for Determining Disaster Emergency Status (2016).There it is stated that the status of a national disaster emergency is determined based on the consideration that the affected provincial government does not have the capacity for one or more of the following things:
a.Mobilize human resources for disaster emergency management;
b.Activate the disaster emergency management command system;
c.Carry out initial handling of disaster emergencies including rescuing and evacuating victims/threatened residents as well as fulfilling basic needs.
The inability of the provincial government as intended is determined by an official statement from the governor of the affected province.This statement must be strengthened and supported by a report on the results of a rapid assessment conducted by the government (BNPB or related ministry/institution).The determination of the national disaster emergency status is finally signed by the President.
(yo/isn)
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